Family Building

What Does Family Building Mean?

Family building refers to the idea that there are different paths to parenthood that individuals or couples can choose to expand their family beyond heterosexual conception.

FertilitySmarts Explains Family Building

Infertile couples, members of the LGBTQ community, and people who wish to be single parents have options available to them in order to have a child. These paths to parenthood are collectively referred to as family building.

Family building includes seeking fertility treatments, using a surrogate to carry a child, using a sperm or egg donor to conceive a child, becoming pregnant with a donated embryo, or pursuing adoption. This concept is especially relevant to members of LGBTQ communities as well as single parents as it is inclusive of the possibilities of having children in ways that meet the diverse needs of these groups.